1. Field
This disclosure relates to personal video recorders, more particularly to centralized personal video recorders and any intermission periods.
2. Background
Personal video recorders allow consumers to adjust the viewing schedule of desired programs and other shows, referred to here as content. Consumers can watch their desired content when they want, not when the content providers decide to provide it. An additional feature of these recorders allows the consumers to skip or delete any commercials or any other interruptions in a particular program.
These personal video recorders may include videocassette recorders, set top boxes with video recording capabilities, or other types of solid-state recorders, such as the TiVO system. An additional advantage of solid-state recorders, to most consumers' viewpoints, is the ability to remove commercials. Some of these recorders can even be programmed to proactively skip recording of the commercials, or can be programmed to identify and delete the data associated with the commercials.
While consumers view the ability to skip commercials as an advantage, service providers generally do not. As used here, content providers refers to those entities that provide the actual programming, such as television shows, movies, concerts, music, etc. Service providers generally provide the connection, the distribution and delivery service, and account maintenance for the consumers, etc. Service providers may also be content providers, and content providers may also be service providers, but generally service providers are of interest here.
Service providers have become interested in providing centralized personal video recording services to their end users, or consumers. For example, a consumer may interact with their video system to order a pay-per-view movie. Similarly, a consumer may inform the service provider that it wants to record a movie that will be played on a channel to which the consumer subscribes. Later, the consumer will interact with the system to direct it to play the movie, similar to pay-per-view or video-on-demand.
However, service providers make a good deal of their revenues on advertising. Providing a centralized recording service to which consumers will subscribe will require the ability to skip commercials. Service providers then may be put in the position of providing a service that reduces their advertising income. Therefore, other ways to provide advertising opportunities to providers of a centralized video recording service would be useful.